VVS Laxman feels that Ajinkya Rahane should be benched for India’s first Test against South Africa later this month, citing that continuity is important in terms of team selection. He called for Shreyas Iyer’s inclusion, who had an impressive start to his Test career against New Zealand recently.

South Africa has promised a fully Bio-secure environment for the Indian team for their upcoming tour amid fears of the Covid-19 Omicron variant. The foreign ministry also praised BCCI for allowing the India A team to continue their series despite of the Omicron variant cases in the country.